A work in progress about teaching - Rick Snell September 1997
A Spiral of Quality: Some Reflective and Personal Thoughts About Changing
University Teaching Practices
Rick Snell
Introduction
This article contains a collection of thoughts and reflections about teaching
from the first 10 years of my experiences as a tertiary teacher. The first years of that
experience were as a casual tutor in Political Science and the remainder as a public
law academic in a small law school. The reflections have been prompted by winning
a University of Tasmania Teaching Excellence Award in 1996 and undertaking a
series of teaching seminars, within the university, on teaching. My perspective has
always been to try and focus on methods, ideas and techniques I could use in a
classroom or lecture theatre rather than searching for a grand unifying theory of
education. The reality is, that no matter how deficient my educational training,
understanding and theoretical foundations are, today and for most of my university
career, I will be required to operate on the front line. Therefore my preference is for
the tool or technique that can be used immediately and the only debates and
discussions that hold attention focus on my current needs in the classroom. This is
not to discard theory but adds it to my own foundations.
Teaching in Australian universities has undergone a fairly rapid change in the
last decade under the impact of Dawkin reforms, fees, the Vanstone Agenda
(Richardson, 1997), the current round of performance based pay negotiations
(Healy, 1997a) and the advent of David Kemp as Minister for Education. Meanwhile
overseas trends indicate the possibility of pressure being placed on staff to undertake
formal teaching qualifications (Healy, 1997b). We have been forced into this higher
education turmoil with little direction and left to navigate our own careers.
Suggestions are starting to be aired in places like the Campus Review and university
conferences that we may soon see freelance lecturers who teach between several
institutions or operate under corporate sponsorship. We could have “Brand Name”
courses, theatres and lecturers - “Hi my name is Rick Snell I will be teaching you
this semester - I am here courtesy of - insert corporate brand name -.” This article is
an attempt to share the few insights I have managed to collect about teaching and
learning in the past decade which may still be useful despite the whirlwind of change
that is advancing towards us.
My professional life has been a journey of slow and often accidental discovery
aided by the desire not to continue the worst practices experienced as a student and
to try and build upon the best practices (albeit only a small handful) encountered as a
student. In the last couple of years I have found a touchstone to help focus ideas and
efforts about university teaching. The touchstone was the decision to strive for
excellence in public law teaching. A decision inspired by two great Australasian
public law teachers in John Goldring (Goldring, 1985) and Geoffrey Palmer.
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A work in progress about teaching - Rick Snell September 1997
(Palmer, 1992). A secondary objective has been to incorporate the best features of
my public law teaching into other teaching areas. This pursuit of excellence in public
law teaching in my opinion will be achieved by;
 Continual application of the principles of deep learning.
 Assessment linked to learning objectives.
 Linking public interest, law reform and civic education to the study of public law.
Yet the purpose of the journey will always be the students. Teaching excellence
awards and/or reputation will mean nothing if my teaching cannot be continued to be
described in the following way;
“...is his ability to command the respect and interest of the gifted student whilst still being able
to deliver cogent and effective presentation to the less-talented undergraduate. He has utilised
a range of teaching methodologies so that all students, with their diverse range of academic
abilities, will be stimulated and encouraged to tap the full extent of their potential.”
Lynden Griggs, Law Lecturer, University of Tasmania in regards to my teaching (1996)
What am I all about
In the mid 1990s I transformed myself from an accidental tertiary teacher into a
professional public law teacher with a mission to strive for excellence. As a student I
rarely encountered subjects or teaching styles that stimulated intellectual or civic
development (Ballantyne, 1997). In the present environment of scarce resources,
within a State that struggles for viability in all areas, I have a duty to motivate,
enthuse and entice my students into expanding their skills, confidence and civic
participation levels (Palmer, Chapter 2, 1992). A total of almost 20 years in tertiary
education (student, casual tutor and lecturer) have still not dispelled my amazement
at the latitude allowed for the worst excesses of poor or amateur teaching practices
(Ramsden, 1997). My pursuit of professionalism has been ad hoc but driven by the
view that it is a vital necessity.
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A work in progress about teaching - Rick Snell September 1997
My Teaching Philosophy
My approach to teaching is based on the “bedrock of listening, trust and respect
for the dignity and the creative potential of each person” (Peters & Austin, 1985)
involved in the tertiary learning process. Teaching is an art that must be engaged
with enthusiasm, skill, love and a desire to embark along a journey of quality.
Teaching is a process that necessitates the pursuit of the following ideals (Ramsden,
1990-1991);
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Wanting to share your love of the subject
Making the material stimulating
Working at the student’s level
Using clear explanations
Making it clear what has to be understood and why
Showing concern and respect for students
Encouraging student independence
Using teaching methods that require students to learn actively and co-operatively
Using appropriate assessment
Giving high quality feedback
Learning from students about the effects of teaching
A few lessons from my teaching experiences.
The last ten years have been a journey of false starts, many stumbles and a few
glorious moments of achievement. I started my teaching career in the normal careless
fashion of university recruitment. A postgraduate supervisor dropped my name to a
first year Political Science course coordinator who needed a part time tutor. For the
supervisor it was a good way of shaking the cobwebs out of my intellect after several
years work as a Tax Officer and not because it would be directly beneficial to the
learning process of the students. After a strange meeting with the course coordinator
which I thought was a selection interview, but was in reality just an opportunity to
tell me the room number and days of my tutorials, my career as a university
academic had lurched from the starting blocks. Ten years later I was struggling to
hold back (unsuccessfully) tears at the end of a law graduation ceremony where the
students had burst out in spontaneous cheering as my name was announced as a
recipient of a teaching excellence award. In between those two points I have passed
between the depths of despair at the mockery of what universities generally offer as
“best teaching practice” and the joys of sharing time with teachers who leave me
humble with their understanding, gentle guidance and inspirational talents.
What follows are a few ideas, reflections and points which may help new
university teachers and not a sure fire 10 point plan for success. The list was
compiled on the basis of what hints or clues about teaching I would leave for the
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next person occupying my office in the law school. This is not meant to be an
exhaustive list or list of ingredients that must be used together in a particular recipe.
Nevertheless they have all played their part in my development from an accidental
tertiary teacher to a person working towards becoming a learning professional. My
list would include;
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Start Small (Dream Large)
Involve Students
Be Willing to Accept Failure
Link Research to Teaching
Seize the Day
Network
Record History
Celebrate
The Power of One
Do Not Neglect Your Own Career
Start Small (Dream Large)
Since 1988 I have been involved in a number of teaching initiatives and
projects. The ventures which have brought the greatest rewards and satisfaction are
those which have commenced from small beginnings but always had, often
undefined, an ambition to develop into something larger in scale or scope. The
smallness factor has several design advantages.
First it offers a greater prospect that the project will commence. In my
experience projects which require approval from other levels within the department
let alone other levels or areas of the University will generally be delayed or end up
gathering dust (Jones & Snell, 1994).
Second, small projects avoid the “delay until next semester trap”. Projects which
are grandiose or require significant contributions of time or precious labour are too
tempting to put aside until you have more time.
Third, unforseen obstacles or opportunities will often derail projects. That
opportunity to co-author a book, the sudden sickness of a colleague and the necessity
to take on a heavier teaching load or the unexpected adverse reaction of students to a
golden idea are events that will easily see wild ambition melt away.
Fourth, small projects or ventures normally have the opportunity to evolve and
escape the complete tyranny of design. Throughout my teaching life it has more
often than not been the unplanned modification, a suggestion or the response to an
initial design failure that has allowed a project to evolve to a higher degree of
success.
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A work in progress about teaching - Rick Snell September 1997
Fifth, it is much easier to hand over ownership or involvement in a small
venture which has grown over time then is the case with a major enterprise that was
launched at a great investment in time, energy and emotional commitment.
Professor McKinnon, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Wollongong
once explained the transition of Wollongong from a small third rate marginal
enterprise in the late 1970s to a leading university in the 1990s in terms of a spiral of
quality. The final destination had always been contemplated but reality meant that it
had to be taken as a step at a time working along a spiral - all the earlier stages
needed to have been reached so as to make it possible to add the next stage. My most
successful project, the Public Law Active Research Project, has followed this spiral
of quality pattern (Snell, 1997a). Step by small step but each one cranking the quality
and output up several degrees.
Two case studies of this “start small” approach demonstrate the outcomes that
can be achieved from small beginnings. The two case studies have several features in
common; they commenced with pilot projects designed to test the water, feedback
from students was used to design the next step of each program, each program was
labour intensive but was able to be conducted in an environment of tight resources
and finally external recognition of the value or merit of the programs preceded
internal university recognition.
The Public Law Active Research Project began life as an optional and minor
class exercise in 1991. Its original aim was to provide an alternative form of
assessment in a course which to that date was totally assessed by exams. Students
were permitted to reduce their exam assessment by 10% and undertake a research
assignment. Despite the inherent obstacles a number of students in 1991 and 1992
undertook these small research projects. The quality of the work, and feedback, by
the students encouraged a consideration of a larger scale version. This opportunity
came in 1993 with my first optional course where I had complete discretion as to the
mode of assessment. Since that time over 700 individual student research projects
have been completed. A number of these projects have been converted into
published articles, law reform submissions, discussion papers and a private
member’s bill on Whistleblowing.(Public Interest Disclosure Bill, (Tas) 1995) In
addition the Public Law Active Research Project has received bi-partisan
endorsement in the Tasmanian House of Assembly (Hansard 1994).
Between 1993 and 1997 the Public Law Active Research Project gained a name,
an operating rationale and gave life to several offshoots including the Admin Law
2000 Project and the Subordinate Legislation Pilot Project. Along the way it has
managed to enthuse and challenge a number of students,
“...push my limits and conduct ‘real’ research, as opposed to academic exercises. I feel I
have an actual, as opposed to theoretical, understanding of some areas of Administrative
Law. The psychological benefit of building on and drawing from the work of previous
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students is significant. This adds to one’s commitment, as one’s work is actually going to
be used in some ‘real’ way” ( Ballantyne, 1997 at 427).
The second case study is the International Students Support Program at the Law
School, University of Tasmania. This program commenced in a low key fashion by
the Law School nominating a staff member to be the key liaison person with
international students in 1991. In 1993 a pilot project focussing on the needs of
South Pacific students studying law in Australia was created. By 1997 this project
could be described in the following terms;
In 1992, the University of Tasmania had a number of AusAID students from the Pacific
region studying law. Many of these students were shy and reluctant to seek help and this
resulted in poor pass rates. In order to address this problem the International Student
Advisers proposed an innovative and practical approach to provide support for these
students.
The University of Tasmania/AusAID Law Program, which was originally co-funded by
AusAID and the University of Tasmania, is now fully sustainable without AusAID funding.
It has been an enormous success, with pass rates rising from less than 70 percent in 1993
to more than 90 percent in 1996. This has been a cost effective exercise for AusAID as the
cost of funding the support program is lower than funding additional years of study for
unsuccessful students. For the students, it has helped to improve confidence and self
esteem. The program has also raised the profile of the University of Tasmania which is
now regarded by AusAID as offering one of the best support programs for international
students in Australia
This project is an excellent example of how universities can be pro-active in providing
support programs for international students. Letter from Brian Agland, Humanitarian
Relief Section, AusAID 7 October 1997.
Involve Students
This has been vital to whatever success I can claim to have had as a tertiary
teacher. If student learning is our aim then we need to understand, appreciate and
motivate students. The first step in this process is to move from treating students as
an anonymous collective to a mixed bag of talented individuals. I often use sporting
analogies in my discussions about teaching and learning and visualise my role as
being that of a coach in a small community. Namely, to foster the rapid progress of
those destined to be champions, to make the able strive to win, to make the awkward
able and to entice the bystander to play the game and enjoy the experience. The
analogy of coaching appeals as it links students and teacher in a mutual relationship
with each bringing different skills, backgrounds and commitment to the process.
Many tertiary teachers eventually transform into bitter cataloguers of student
shortcomings after a random selection process continually fails to deliver teams of
academic high achievers.
The first step towards involving students in a course is to take the time to listen.
I listen to my students in a myriad of ways including discussion with current
students, long retrospective talks with a large network of former students,
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examination of their official survey comments and a continual updating of a wide
range of educational literature. Secondly I approach learning as a process or a
journey. In taking this approach it means that a teacher must deliver resources
(material, time, advice and sometimes breathing space) at the time students approach
or enter crucial phases of this process. In order to achieve this goal there must be a
constant monitoring, via a variety of methods, of what stage students are in that
learning process.
The progress of my teaching since 1988 has been assisted by a constant flow of
feedback from a wide variety of mechanisms (survey instruments, straw polls,
random conversations, videotapes, e-mail, discussion papers). To be useful feedback
needs to be responded to professionally and creatively. Negative feedback does not
automatically lead to the cutting out of a particular practice or idea. It may be the
packaging, timing or delivery at fault and not the idea. However it is no use seeking
feedback if those who provide it do not see their contributions being acted upon or
responded to in some way. One of my students has captured this point when she
noted;
“In my experience as a student at various Universities and as an administrator with Adult
Education, I have rarely met anyone as committed to giving students a voice of their own
and to providing opportunities for them to make that voice heard.”
The second step is to spend time learning about your students and getting to
know them as individuals. This is no easy task. As an individual I have problems
including not remembering names, not being a very socially outgoing person (
tending to float to the outside of gatherings and watch rather than actively circulate)
and each year I come into direct teaching contact with over 300 students in three
separate subjects. My own experience and the educational literature indicate that the
recall or recognition of students is a vital element in the student-teacher relationship.
I have developed a number of classroom “introduction exercises” which allows me
to learn a great deal about my students, give them an insight into my character and
background and acts as useful device to remember student names (Snell, 1997b).
The third step to involving students is to allow them opportunities to directly,
and indirectly, participate in a course. This can be achieved in a number of flexible
ways. In my public law courses I try and build a realisation that students are involved
in and contributing to a massive research tradition. In the Public Law Active
Research Project the final papers of the students are used as a resource for future
studies and research outlines or stories written by students are included in materials
for the next generation of students. In the literature associated with the public law
courses students read about and are shown how students in previous years have been
involved with the courses.
Be Willing to Accept Failure
The best laid plans of mice and men will often come to nought. Yet our
university system seems unwilling to accept failure as an equally acceptable outcome
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as success when seeking innovation but is prepared to accommodate those who can
fudge mediocre performance or polish moderate success into outstanding
achievement. Very rarely will a subject, program, Department or School be willing
or able to openly discuss shortcomings or problems. In general the rule will be to talk
up success and slide over problems.
Yet to me the disappointment of failure is like the ashes from which a phoenix
may rise. If we dare to be different, to try new ideas or to revisit old experiments or
try to cater for the specific audience of this year’s student group then there is every
likelihood that we will stumble. This is not a licence for reckless and careless
experimentation but an injunction against complacency and the safety of well
trodden paths to unsatisfying destinations. I have always felt comfortable with the
motto of “Dare to struggle”.
When I include a new innovation or idea in a course it is accompanied by an
explanation to the students that it is experimental. Time is taken to explain why the
experiment has been undertaken, its design and desired objectives. Students will
often indicate problems with the experiment and more often than not offer
alternatives which are superior on all counts to the original proposal.
Link Research to Teaching
Since the start of the Public Law Active Research Project in 1992 my interest,
commitment and involvement in teaching has been supported and enlivened by
increasing links with a clear research program. This linkage is important to my
apparent success as a teacher. I learn from my students. The treatment of students as
peers provides the opportunity for constant insights and updates in recent
administrative law developments. The Public Law Active Research Project has
resulted in 50-100 detailed briefings on Administrative Law being drawn to my
attention each year. Thus armed and informed, supplemented by my own research
efforts I can guide the next generation of public lawyers further along a voyage of
discovery.
By creating mutual links between teaching and research I am less likely to
begrudge time spent with students rather than ferreting away at the next refereed
article or research grant. In return and informed with the insights of former students
and subsequent research I can give the next group of students a slightly richer and
fuller picture of public law. The trailblazing research or interesting and fresh ideas of
my students contribute to my own research (Snell, 1996). A further spin off benefit is
that when students see that I am willing to incorporate their work into my articles,
with due acknowledgment, then the point is made that I do listen to and value
student input.
Seize the Day
The Robin Williams’ performance in Dead Poets Society and the Danny De
Vito portrayal in Military Intelligence epitomise the key attributes of a teacher.
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A work in progress about teaching - Rick Snell September 1997
Sharing the love of a subject. This point was made so vividly, just in the title alone,
in Gilbert Highet’s 1951 work The Art of Teaching. If you can share that love (in
many cases just to find something to enthuse you about your teaching area) or
convey that pleasure then half the struggle as a teacher is over.
I feel sorry for those of us who have to drag ourselves to our next teaching
commitment all the while dreading the appointment and merely having the objective
of ending the encounter as quickly as possible. This still happens to me when I teach
some aspects of property law as opposed to public law. My worst ever teaching
experience was a property law tutorial. I had been called in at the last moment to fill
in - an occupational hazard in a small law school. The tutorial was mid afternoon in
the worst teaching room in the Law School - a long thin room that was furnished
with an eclectic mix of furniture including several broken chairs. The students piled
into the room (several well after the tutorial had commenced), many having to sit on
the floor, hidden from view at the back of the room. What was worse than the
furniture, my lack of preparation and the passive indifference of the students was my
attitude - “just 50 minutes and I am out of here”.
Since that experience and with a vow never to fall so far ever again from my
own state of grace I have tried hard to seize the day even in last minute property
tutorials. The lesson is to avoid the rationing and focus on the students who are
currently expecting the promise of higher education and learning to be delivered. I
have found encouragement in an interview with Bruce Springsteen where he talks
about the way he approaches each concert;
“I don’t like to let myself think about the next night. If you do that you begin to plan too
much and begin rationing yourself....If you start rationing, you’re living life bit by bit when
you can live it all at once. I like the latter. That’s what I get the most satisfaction out of: to
know that tonight when I go to bed I did my best. It’s corny, I guess, but isn’t that what
living is all about? If you go to the show, the kid has a ticket for tonight. He’s go no ticket
for the show in L.A. or New York. He doesn’t have a ticket for Detroit. He only has a ticket
for Cleveland. You can’t live on what you did yesterday or plan on what’s gonna happen
tomorrow. So if you fall into that trap, you don’t belong onstage. That’s what rock’ n’ roll
is: a promise, an oath. It’s about being as true as you can be at any particular moment”
(Cross, 1989).
Network
I have found few things to be as genuinely lonely, as a professional, than the act
of tertiary teaching. You enter the seminar room or the lecture theatre on your own
and you leave with the same degree isolation. I have experienced over 1,200 contact
hours as a lecturer and tutor and, except for 4 hours in New Zealand, have never had
another professional work with me or sit in on a lesson. I have practiced my art in
isolation - given the stress, trauma and angst of tertiary teaching I do not know how I
would have coped under a wider degree of scrutiny. Yet the load and isolation could
have been helped by sharing some of that class room time. It was not until I attended
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my first Australian Law Teachers teaching workshops and interest groups (after
several hundred teaching hours under my belt) that I was able to share problems,
concerns, ideas, hopes and dreams with other people prepared to acknowledge the
possibility that they to enjoyed teaching (Le Brun & Johnstone, 1994).
I have now joined in and/or developed several interlaced networks of public law
teachers, University of Tasmanian teachers, former students and international
teaching contacts which have enriched my understanding about teaching and allowed
me the joy of gaining the wisdom and understanding of outstanding individuals.
These networks are a combination of face to face, email and those kept vital by old
fashioned penmanship. These networks have broken that crippling feeling of
professional isolation. I still enter my workplace on solo missions but I now have the
chance to debrief with peers and friends however remote.
Record History
I am not a good record keeper nor did my teaching career start with the idea of
leaving time capsules for future reflection. However for one reason or another I have,
over the years, made an attempt to keep a crude teaching portfolio which has
included details of my various teaching innovations, plans, failures and successes.
(see
See
http://www.comlaw.utas.edu.au/users/rsnell/Teaching/portfolio).
Occasionally I have tried to pen a critical analysis of my teaching journey (Snell
unpublished,
see
http://www.comlaw.utas.edu.au/users/rsnell/Teaching/articles/index.html )
The stories of other teachers have been rich sources of inspiration, ideas and
often lighthouses for the darkness of my own struggles (Stokes, 1990). It is
important for us, as professionals, to share our experiences, trials, tribulations and
ideas about teaching.i Stephen Brookfield has presented a very eloquent case for
teachers to aim to be more critically reflective (Brookfield).
Critically reflective teachers have researched their teaching and their students enough to
know that methods and practices imported from outside rarely fit snugly into the contours
of their classrooms. They are aware that difficult problems never have standardized
solutions. At best, such problems call forth a multiplicity of partial responses. The
critically reflective also know that a significant but neglected starting point for dealing
with these problems is the critical analysis of their own past experience. Taken at face
value, autobiographical stories are suspect and subject to the dangers of distortion and
overgeneralisation. But when critically analyzed and combined with other sources of
reflection such as colleagues’ experiences, students’ perceptions, and formal theory,
autobiographies can be a powerful source of insight into the resolution of problems
(Brookfield 19-20).
Celebrate
One of the great aspects about playing sport is the feeling associated with
playing a great stroke or pulling off an almost impossible intercept. I try and achieve
the same from teaching. Teaching is a difficult enough task in an often
uncompromising and negative environment without losing precious opportunities to
reap pleasure or rewards, no matter how small, from this activity. I want every
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seminar, lecture and student research paper that finally makes it to my door to feel
like a touch down.
Over the years I have sat on the margins of morning teas or lunch time get
togethers with university teaching colleagues as they bemoan the latest failure of a
student or students in general to achieve a satisfactory performance in an exam or an
essay. In the voices of those new to teaching there is a tone of sad regret. Yet with
the passage of years this tone converts to one that dismisses the failure to achieve by
students as a stark universal truth.
As university teachers we are given the opportunity to encounter some of the
best minds of a new generation or the insights of a few who have returned to our
ivory tower after several years of experiences to gain a new degree. Something is
remiss in our attitude or approach if the majority of our contact with students is
negative in nature or returns no rewards.
The celebration can range from the minor, a self acknowledgment that the
lecture went well on your own evaluation criteria (finished on time, 5 questions were
asked, a student stayed behind to follow up a point), to a major event (an hour of
class time is set aside so students can outline to the whole class the major findings of
their research project).
The Power of One
It is often too easy for new university teachers, or even a few bitter old hands, to
dismiss their potential for making a difference. Most of us have 8-10 contact hours a
week with some of the brightest of the next generation to make a difference in the
teaching and learning environment. To waste this opportunity is a damning
indictment for any person who seeks to draw the status and pay of an academic.
There is no doubt that the obstacles confronting us are overwhelming.
Timetables are etched in stone, teaching rooms designed by a committee of learning
troglodytes, assessment systems whose premises are beyond critique and a student
corps of part time credential hungry rationalists who desperately seek any short cut
to end their tertiary experience. Nevertheless a single moment may be the catalyst to
profound change or in most of our cases a single bloom creating a rare magical
moment in time. One of my students made this comment in a Committee for
Australian University Teaching project;
“Generally students are sold short through lazy lecturers with little commitment to the
teaching aspect of their jobs. In contrast, Rick Snell demonstrated by his commitment to
his students that learning would be an exciting journey where excellence was achievable.
His style and philosophy are unique in the seven years of my total tertiary education and
the admiration of his students is universal and well deserved. He expects a lot of his
students - but because of his approach, students seem to spend a lot more effort willingly
in his subject - because they know it will be recognised, and they definitely feel empowered
by a more active role in their own education. They are taught to be self-sufficient in their
learning” (Ballantyne, 1997 at 432).
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A sole voice in a staff room may not win any dramatic changes in the approach
or commitment of resources to teaching but it will generally inspire public lip service
to such commitments. It may then only be a matter of time before others see the
difference between the preaching and the practice. Inspirational women and men
have more often made their mark as a lone voice at first then as half hearted choir
singers.
Do Not Neglect Your Own Career
Whatever you see written and no matter how many times you hear the virtues of
tertiary teaching being mouthed by the “powers that be” - never be fooled. A 100%
commitment to university teaching can only lead to heartbreak as you feel the boots
of others scrambling over you on the promotions ladder. The bright eyed enthusiastic
teacher who has unlimited consultation hours, distributes their home phone number,
continues to put 3 hours preparation into each lesson, knows each student by name
will always be a highly valued member of staff and over time relatively inexpensive
as incremental progression ends and promotion prospects fade.
The ambitious and earnest intellect who allocates 30 minutes consultation on a
Monday evening, snarls at students or more often practices an acquired indifference,
who took a year off from teaching to acquire their postgraduate qualification, who
forsakes continuous assessment for a 100% exam on the basis of productivity, who
finishes classes early to return to the simultaneous production of four refereed
articles may create administration problems for the Dean but is soon measuring out
the fittings for an Associate Professorial office.
The lesson is not to choose the latter over the former but learn how to keep alive
the art of teaching while sharing in the power and glory of the researcher. A lesson I
have yet to learn in full. It is not hard to find in most staff rooms the long embittered
teacher who refused to play the academic game but feels cheated in not collecting the
same dues as those who did play. However it is not impossible to love teaching, to
treat it as an art and still win recognition as a researcher. Indeed as Goldring has
demonstrated you can even reap publication points with an article that mixes
methodology, class room practice and advocates teaching a subject so that it is
closely related to its practical operation (Goldring 1985).
Conclusion
Three books sitting next to each other on my shelves seem to sum up the
experiences of this university teacher in their titles; Learning to Teach in Higher
Education, (Ramsden 1992) The Quiet Revolution (Le Brun & Johnstone 1994) and
The Art of Teaching (Highet, 1951). Teaching at university level is a continual
learning process made so by a combination of factors. First the paradox of the
normal selection process. Second, the annual renewal of new faces, attitudes,
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personalities in the classroom. Third, a dawning recognition in the educational
literature about the complex and interactive nature of that learning process.
There is a quiet (r)evolution underway in many disciplines including law
teaching. Since 1988 the Australasian Law Teachers Association Teaching
Workshop has been slowly spreading the belief that even in law teaching matters and
re-energising those whose teaching spirits had faltered. Professor Jim O’Donovan
wrote after attending one of these workshops;
“Before I came to the Workshop I was wavering in my academic career, not because I
disliked research and writing but rather because I had lost my way as a teacher or
facilitator. No doubt, I will lapse from time to time, but I feel affirmed in my vocation and I
am eternally grateful to you all for your expertise, your sensitivity, your patience and
tolerance, and your support. .... thousands of law students will benefit from your efforts. Be
of good cheer and relax now in the knowledge that you have started a quiet revolution. (Le
Brun and Johnstone, 1994, preface xv)
Finally teaching is an art. As Highet wrote:
“Teaching is not like inducing a chemical reaction: it is much more like painting a
picture, or making a piece of music, or on a lower level like planting a garden or writing a
friendly letter. You must throw your heart into it - you must realise that it cannot all be
done by formulas, or you will spoil your work, and your pupils, and yourself” (Highet,
1951 preface at viii).
13
A work in progress about teaching - Rick Snell September 1997
14
References
Ballantyne, R. Bain J. and Packer J. (1997) Reflecting on University Teaching: Academics’ Stories, Chapter
42 “Not just another brick in the wall: Rick Snell,” DEETYA, Canberra 423-436.
Brookfield, Stephen. (?) “What it means to be a more critically reflective teacher” in Becoming a Critically
Reflective Teacher, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco 1-27.
Cross, Charles R. (1989) editor Backstreets Springsteen: The Man and His Music, Sidgwick and Jackson,
London.
Goldring, John. (1986) “Administrative Law: Teaching and Practice,” Melbourne University Law Review,
Vol 15, June , 489-507.
Hansard, House of Assembly, Tasmania 19 October 1994 at 3211, 3215 and 3221.
Healy, Guy. (1997a). “Results banned as pay linked to profits,” Higher Education, The Australian,
Wednesday June 25, 29.
Healy, Guy. (1997b) “UK blessing for teaching course,” Higher Education, The Australian, Wednesday
June 25, 33
Highet, Gilbert. (1951) The Art of Teaching, University Paperbacks.
Jacques David (1997) “Myths That Must Go,” The Australian Wednesday, 22 October, 41-42.
Jones Peter & Snell, Rick. (1994) "Trials and Tribulations of Developing Computer Assisted Learning in a
Small Law School," Journal of Law and Information Science, Vol 5 No.1, 57-70.
Le Brun, M.& Johnstone, R. (1994) The Quiet (R)Evolution: Improving Student Learning in Law, Law
Book Company.
Palmer, Geoffrey. (1992) ”The New Public Law,” in New Zealand’s Constitution in Crisis: Reforming our
Political System, John McIndoe, 20-41.
Ramsden, Paul. (1990-1991) “Evaluating and Improving Teaching in Higher Education,” Legal Education
Review Vol 2 No 2
Ramsden, Paul. (1992) Learning To Teach In Higher Education,Routledge.
Ramsden, Paul. (1997) “Those Who Can’t Teach,” The Australian Wednesday, 22 October, 40.
Peters, Tom. & Austin, Nancy (1985) A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership Difference, Fontana
Collins.
Richardson, Jane. (1997). “Vanstone’s Jigsaw Takes Shape,” Higher Education, The Australian,
Wednesday June 25, 33
Snell, Rick. (1996) “Who needs FOI when market mechanisms will deliver accountability on demand” A
critical evaluation of the relationship between FOI and Government Business Enterprises?”
Info 2 - Second National Freedom of Information Conference, Gold Coast 7-8th March. 1-17.
Snell, Rick. (1997a) “The First Steps in Understanding the Impact of Administrative Law on Public
Administration at the State Level: The Tasmanian Story.” Linda Pearson (ed) Administrative
Law: Setting the Pace or Being Left Behind? Sydney, 237-252.
Snell, Rick. (1997b) “When students’ names escape you,” The Law Teacher Vol 4, No.2 at 12.
Snell, Rick (unpublished) “Breathing Life into a Tired Old Beast - Tasmanian Law Tutorials for the 21st
Century,” at http://www.comlaw.utas.edu.au/users/rsnell/Teaching/articles/index.html
Stokes, Geoff. (1990) “Teaching Politics: Power and Process in Tutorials,” Politics, 25(1) May, 131-138.
A work in progress about teaching - Rick Snell September 1997
15

BA(Hons)/LLB, MA law lecturer at the University of Tasmania. In 1996 I was awarded a
Teaching Excellence Award by the University of Tasmania.
i
This is way the CAUT sponsored project of Ballantyne,1997 Reflecting on University
Teaching: Academics’ Stories, is such an important publication.